/ Express ice screws

One of the problems I find with these new fangled "express" ice screws like the Grivel and BD offerings is that it can be difficult to judge the ice. There was something re-assuring about having to use a lot of effort to get the screw all the way in. How do you judge if you have hit an air pocket when there is no discernable difference in the effort required to place the screw.

In reply to GridNorth: There is an extremely discernible difference! Just takes practice to get the right feel for what your screw is doing.

In fact this difference is probably far more noticeable with winding screws than those not, due to the smooth nature of placement, i.e. you feel the difference more than those which require endless hand cranking, because feedback from the screw is more constant.

In reply to nniff: agree with everyone else, it's very obvious. I guess you've just been lucky. BTW, BD express screws are really 'new fangled' at all. My oldest expresses are now 14 or 15 years old, and the grivel designs have been around for a decade.

> (In reply to nniff) agree with everyone else, it's very obvious. I guess you've just been lucky. BTW, BD express screws are really 'new fangled' at all. My oldest expresses are now 14 or 15 years old, and the grivel designs have been around for a decade.